Folding chair.



J. M. DOEHRER.

FOLDING CHAIR. APPLICATION FILED r1113. 24, 1911.

Patented May 2, 1911.

i5 ATTORNEY entirely JOHN M. DOEHREB, OF BItIDG-EPORT, CONNECTICUT.

FOLDING CHAIR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 2, 1911.

Application filed February 24, 1911. Serial No. 610,583.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN M. DoEHRnn, citizen of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Chairs; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to folding chairs of the character adapted for piazzas, lawns and parks, and it consists in certain details of construction to be more fully set forth in the following specification.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the chair opened and ready for use; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the chair folded; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a rocker shoe and broken view of two of the chair legs; Fig. 4 is a section of the rocker shoe on line a a of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a broken view of one of the arms and seat.

The chair is represented as being made of metal, the back of which comprises the side frames 1 joined at the top by the rod 2, and journaled at the bottom on the rod 3, and 4: are intermediate flexible metal slats riveted to the side frames. The double section seat comprises the side pieces 5, 6, 7 and 8 and the flexible metal slats 9 and 10. The outer ends of the side pieces of the rear section are journaled on the rod 8, and the outer ends of the front section are journaled on the rod 11, while the inner ends of these side pieces are journaled on the central rod 12.

The upper ends of the legs 13, 1 1, are journaled on the rod 3, and the upper ends of the legs 15, 16, are journaled on the rod 11, and the central portion of these legs are journaled on the rod 17, rods 18, and 19 being simply brace rods to stiffen the lower part of the legs.

The arms 20, being exactly alike, and to avoid confusion, indicated by the same figures of reference, are journaled on rivets 21 of the side frames and intermediate the ends of said frames. The opposite and free ends of these arms are downwardly curved and are provided on their lower edges with the notches 22.

23 are guards pivotally supported at the ends of the arms 20 and having the hook 1 portion 28 formed at their free ends adapted to embrace the upper edge of the arms for the purpose presently to be more fully described.

"When the chair is opened and ready for use as shown at Fig. 1, the rod 11 will be engaged by one of the notches of the arms to prevent the chair collapsing, as well as to give supporting strength to the whole structure. The pressure of the occupant against the chair back will be resisted by the engagement of the notches with the rod 11. While the occupant is in the chair, the inclination or angle of the back can readily and easily be changed by simply leaning forward just enough to release the pressure against said back, then carry the forward ends of the arms outward until the guards 28 strike against the rod 11, which operation will have disengaged the notches 22 from said rod, and when thus disengaged the free ends of the arms are brought forward or carried back to suit the required inclination, and the notches suitable for said inclination are brought into engagement with rod 11. The guards 23, when brought in contact with the rod 11, not only notify the occupant that the arms are disengaged therefrom and in readiness for shifting the back without looking, but the adjustment of the chair back is limited to the length of said guards, so that backward precipitation of the occupant is impossible. These guards can be made of any desired length, and the number of notches increased if so desired.

If desired to convert the chair into a rocker, a pair of shoes, similar to shoe 24:, Fig. 3, is secured to the legs of the chair by screws 25 passing through holes (not shown) in the shoe, and the holes 26 in the chair legs, the feet of the chair legs resting on the lateral rib 24 of the shoe.

The first operation in folding the chair is to unclasp the guards 23; bring the chair back forward to carry the free ends of the arms far enough below the rod 11 to enable the free ends of the guards to swing clear of said rod and the chair seat as shown at Fig. 5, and when the guards are thus freed, they can be drawn up into the space between said rod and end slat of the forward section of the chair seat. The chair back is then thrown backward on its pivotal support, as shown at Fig. 2, and the sectional seat is centrally depressed or elevated, if desired, to fold the legs together, making, when folded,

a much smaller package than shown at Fig. 2. To unfold the chair, the legs are spread until the seat is leveled; the back elevated; the free ends of the arms passed between the rod 11 and the outer end slat of the seat section 7, then drawn back far enough for the guards to embrace the rod 11.

It will be understood that it is not absolutely necessary that the notches in the free ends of the arms should engage the rod 11 as a stud or other like means projecting from the seat would serve the same purpose equally well.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A folding chair comprising a back having side frames and transverse slats secured thereto, a double section seat having side pieces and transverse slats secured thereto, said sections pivoted together, front and rear transverse rods, the outer end of the rear seat section journaled on said rear rod together with the side frames of the chair back, arms pivoted to the side frames, Whose outer and free ends have notches adapted to be adjustably and removably connected to the front transverse rod, guards pivoted to the free ends of the arms adapted to embrace the front transverse 1'00 and means on said guards for temporarily locking the 30 same to the arms, legs crossing each other and pivotally supported at the center, the upper ends of two of said legs journaled on the rear transverse rod, and the other two legs journaled on the front transverse rod.

2. A folding chair comprising a pivotally supported back, a pivotally supported seat, folding legs, arms pivoted to the back having means at their free ends for detachably connecting said free ends to the seat, and a guard detachably supported on the arms for limiting the movement of the free ends of said arms.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN M. DOEHR-ER.

Witnesses:

GEORGE N. SEARS, W. L. ALEXANDER.

M Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

